Stocks, Oil Rally on U.S. Jobs Data, Korea News

A trader looks at a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)

Stock markets across the globe rose the most in two weeks on Friday after U.S. job growth posted a sharp, unexpected increase, while a planned meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un gave crude oil a further boost.

The yen fell broadly after the Bank of Japan stuck to its dovish policy stance and as Kim’s pledge to refrain from further nuclear or missile tests during the proposed talks buoyed investor sentiment.

But the dollar was otherwise little changed despite the U.S. economy having added the largest number of jobs in more than 1-1/2 years in February, as slowing wage gains indicated only a gradual increase in inflation this year.

Wall Street led global equity gains as the U.S. labor data landed in a sweet spot for stock investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 440.53 points, or 1.77 percent, to 25,335.74, the S&P 500 gained 47.6 points, or 1.74 percent, to 2,786.57 and the Nasdaq Composite added 132.86 points, or 1.79 percent, to 7,560.81.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended up 0.41 percent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 1.12 percent, the most since Feb. 23.